Latching mechanism for overhead doors



April 6 1965 J. F. MCKEE ETAL. 3,177,022

LATCHING MEGHANISM FOR OVERHEAD DOORS Filed May 7, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet lIIN". nl" lll JUG Uli

April 6, 1965 J. F. MCKEE r-:TAL 3,177,022

LATOHING MEOHANISM FOR OVERHEAD DOORS Filed May 7, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2United etat 3,177,022 lv ECHANlSM FR VERHEAD BQSRS l John F. McKee andReynold E. Schumacher, Aurora, lll., assignors to McKee Boor Company, acorporation of Illinois Filed May 7, i963, Ser. No. 27d,544

1 Claim. (Cl. 225tl) This invention relates to a latching mechanism foran overhead door and more particularly is concerned with providing asimplified, low cost, reliable latching mechanism that is easy toinstall, adjust and operate.

vThe principal objects of the invention are to provide a latchingmechanism: that is stable in both its latchk position and'its releaseposition; that may be left in its latch position during door closure toautomatically latch without-any requirementfor manual actuation; that isreadily adjustable to engage a track mounted strike over a considerablerange of track taper; that is adaptable to variousrdoor clearanceconditions such as may occur due to heaving of the door, or due to'obstacles such as snow, ice or stones under the door and preventingcomplete closure thereof; and that is readily releasible by a dooropening motion applied to the latching mechanism l to'facilitateenlarged illustration;

'.FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vside elevational view of the actuator elementof the latching mechanism of this invention;v

FlG. 2A is an enlarged fragmentary view of the actuator structurej PEG.3 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the details of the latch andstrike arrangement provided for each track;

FlG. 4 is a side elevational View illustrating additional details of thelatch; and y FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the actuatorillusrating it in its latch release position.

` Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FlG. l thereof,there is a fragmental illustration of an overhead door designatedgenerally as l@ and having a central portionl 10C, a left-hand portionlille, and a right hand portion ltlR. 'Ihe door l@ may comprise aplurality of hingedly-connectedhorizontal sections, one or more of whichare equipped with guides 11 (see FIG. 3), operating in guideways definedby tracks l2 that lead upwardly at a slight incline adjacent to theopposite edges of the door for cooperably controlling door opening anddoor closing movements.

The latching mechanism which is also shown fragmentally in FIG. 1includes left and right hand latch assemblies, designated generally atML and MR, respectively, mounted on the corresponding door portions andacentral latch actuator l5 mounted on the door center portion itlC androtatable about its central axis A between a latch position asrepresented in FIG, l and a release position as represented in FIG. 5ilt should be apparent that the axis A is oriented generally normal tothe plane of the door lil. Each guide track l? has a strike 16 mountedat an intermediate point therealong and projecting transanneesiiatezated Apr. S, 1955 versely of the track direction to present adownwardly directed strike face lo? for engagement by thevcorrespending'latch. ln FlG. l a spring driven bolt i7 is shown immediately above theactuator l5 and may be controlled by any suitable lock unit (not shown)for securing the actuator in its latch position as shown in FlG. l.

.Each latch assembly includes a door mounted bracket l and apivotbracket i9, each having integrally formed upper and lower ears lSEand WE, respectively, provided with aligned'apertures to receive avertical hinge sleeve Ztl. A helical coil spring 2l is disposed intelescoping relation about the hinge sleeve Ztl. At the right edge ofthe door,the spring 2l Vhas its upper end 2U extended to abut againstthe door bracket 18 and its lower end ZlL extended to abut against thepivot bracket i9 and` tended to abut against the pivot bracket 19. Thepivot bracket 1S" has outwardly directed upper and lower guide wingsl BWand a horizontally elongated slot 19S (see EEG. 4) intermediatelythereof to accommodate selectively adjustable mounting of the throw 22which is illustrated as beine of right angle contiguration toaccommodate reversible mounting or" the throw.

As is apparent from a consideration of FIGS. l, 3 and 4, the throw 22 iscomprised of right angularly oriented, integrally connected long andshort jaw plates, ZZL and 22S, respectively. Each jaw puate has a pairof horizontal jaw edges Z4 and 25 for selective latching engagement withthe abutment face idF of the corresponding strike l5, and a pair of camedges 24C and 2SC for selective camming engagement with thecorresponding strike to cause the throwr to pivot enough to permit it topass beneath the strike and return automatically to strike engagingposition. This automatic action of the pivotally mounted throws allowsthe door lil to be closed when the latch assemblies are in their latchposition as shown in PEG. l.

Ehe iaw and cam edges on the different jaw plates 221. and 22S of eachthrow 22 are arranged in inverted relationship as required to enablereversible mounting'of the throw for presenting either the long jaw 2.2Lor the short jaws 2S for engagement with the strike i6. the illus'-trated arrangement, the longer jaw plate 22L serves for mounting to thepivot bracket i9 and a nut and bolt fastener 26 engages through acentral hole in the plate Y and through the slot lS in the pivotbracket. Where the strikes lo are spaced further apart, the shorter jawplate 22S serves for mounting to the pivot bracket .i9 and the longerplate 22L,'which is then inverted horn the position in which it isillustrated herein,'is in position to engage the strike le. Finally,each pivot bracket i9 has an outer edge liange llF having a central eyeto facilitate the attachment of a cable end.

The latch actuator unit .l5 includes a mounting plate 2S for stationaryattachment to the door, aire'taining plate 29 overlying and rigid withthe mounting plate 28 and having an open center bordered by an annularwall oltset 29A to define an annular guideway ZnlG (see FIG. 2A) betweenthe mounting and retaining plates and encircling the airis A, av guideplate Sil having edge oisets StiE slidably movable along the guideway,and a support shell 3l liked to the guide plate and rotatable jointlytherewith.

A pair ot' cable spools 32 and 33 are mounted within the actuator shell3l at locations spaced symmetrically about the axis A and as shown inFIG. l where the actuator is in latch position, the spool 32 is in thefirst quadrant and the spool 33 is in the third quadrant, whereas, whenthe actuator is at release position (seefFIG. 5),

the spool 32 is in the second quadrant andthe spool 33 is in the fourthquadrant. The shell structure 31 has inter-V "rupted peripheral sidewalls 31W at its periphery to pro- 1` vide access passages for the cablethat is to beV secured `upon these spools.

" The cable -end 34L ,engaged to the left hand latch assembly 14Lvleadsonv to the spool 32 which is remoteV therefrom when the actuator 15 isin its latch position of FIG. 1, and it is trained about the spool 32 ina spirally Vvinwardly winding vconfiguration relative tothe Vaxis A.

and 33 of the actuator 15 and having opposite ends con riected to thelatch assemblies 14L and 14R to enable rotation of the actuator 15 fromits latch position 'of FIG. k1 to its Vrelease position of FIG. 5 tocause corresponding )pivotal movement of each throw 22 from an outboard`position (shown in full lines in FIG; 3) to an inboard position (shownin phantom lines in FIG. 3).V To eliminate interference between theVcable lengths'exiting from the spools 32 and 33, the spools are locatedin laterally oiset vertical planes as shown in FIG. 2. Where a singleline of cable is employed, as shown herein, the spools are rotatablymounted on the actuator shell 31.

One important feature of the invention is that the movement of theactuator 15 from its latch position ofV l 21 are stressed and act toswing the Vthrows toward their outboard position. This subjectsV eachcable end to a pull and applies torque to the actuator through thespools 32 and 33. Since the line of action of the cable ends moved overcenter as the actuator was turned to its release position of FIG. 5, theapplied torque, due to the springs acting to swing the throws 22 tolatch position, acts in an opposite sense on the-actuator 15 and tendsto hold itin release positionV and resist return movement. The shell 31of the actuator has an integral diameteral offset portion 31H providinga handle for'operating the latch arrangement Yfrom the inside of thedoor. The usual handle The provision of vertically spaced jaw edges incombination with automatically camming throws biased toward latchposition permitsthe arrangement to adapt to changes in door clearanceconditions such as occur after the door installation isA completed. l Y

It should be understood that the description of the preferred form ofthe invention is for thepurpose of complying with Section 1-12, Title35, lofthe U.S. Code and that the claims should be construedas broadlyas prior art will per-mit.

What is claimed is: Y

Latching mechanism for an overhead. door having door mounted guidesoperable in vertical tracks disposed alongiside the door, a separatestrike for secure'rnent at an intermediate point along each track, aseparate 'throw for each strike, means "for mounting each throw to thedoor for shifting Amovement between an outboard position wherefVsymmetrically from said axis such that when said actua` tor is at latchposition, one spool is in a first quadrant of e rotary position'aboutsaid axis and the other spool is in 35 is mounted on the outside of thedoor and has a shaft i 35S keyed Vto the base wall 31B of the actuatorshell 31 mechanism and initiate door opening movement.

a third quadrant of rotary position about said axis and when theactuator is at release position, said one spool is in a second quadrantof rotary position about said axis and said other spool is in a secondquadrant of .rotaryV position about said axis, and a single piece ofcable providing a length of cable engaged to each throw and engaged in aspirally inwardly winding configuration upon Vthe spool thatv is remoteVfrom the corresponding throw when said actuator `is in latch position,with vthe line of the cable from the spool to thethrow moving verticallyY beyond said axis when the actuator is rotated from latch position torelease position to enable the Vbiasing action of said resilient meanslactingthrough the cable to yieldably hold'theV actuator at its releaseposition, wherein said actuator spools are offsetA horizontally a slightdistance and individually rotatable and a singlecable line has itsintermediate portion engaged u-pon'said spools and its vend portionsattached to the throws.V

References Cited by Examiner Y UNrTEDjsTATEs PATENTS 1,603,379 10/26Dautrick. 1,613,023 1/27 Diete. Y 2,389,315 11/45 Kerr 292-21 2,661,787V12/53 Erdal 153-120 2,730,393 'I1/56 Ries -292-244 V*Fornitore PATENTS(i 263,933 `9/13 Germany.,V

M. HENsoNwooD, n., Primary Examiner.

THOMAS J. HICKEY, Examiner.

